The Burning Bush Vol 9 No 2.pmd - Far Eastern Bible College

A BIBLICAL ASSESSMENT OF THE
“ALPHA COURSE”
Jack Sin
The latest novelty in the ecclesiastical scene is the course started
from the UK, called the “Alpha Initiative.” Dr George Carey, the
Archbishop of Canterbury commented, “I have been encouraged to see
the growth of use of Alpha courses.” His support for Alpha has been
echoed by many others and church leaders of major denominations,
including R T Kendall, Charles Colson, Jack Hayford, J I Packer.
International evangelist, Luis Palau, has teamed up with Alpha to provide
follow-up programmes for his evangelistic rallies. The British Daily
Telegraph in February 1998 remarked, “Alpha courses have been run in
Roman Catholic, Methodist and Baptist churches, and many report that it
has been a very effective way of drawing young people back into the
church.” The Guardian (UK) in March 1998 said, “where once there was
Billy Graham, now there is Alpha.”
The Alpha course has purportedly huge success. It is estimated that
3,000 courses run regularly three times a year. It is widespread not just in
UK but also in many parts of the world—USA, Russia, Europe, Africa,
and Asia. By 1997, an estimated 500,000 people have attended the
course. Its popularity underscores the widespread influence it has on a
large segment of the Christian community. The Alpha course has come to
Singapore under the auspices of the Chapel of Christ the Redeemer. The
course book, Questions of Life and The Alpha Initiative, by Nicky
Gumbel, with tapes and videos and other resources, are sold in local
bookstores. The book has sold 250,000 copies worldwide.
The foundation of the Alpha course was originally laid in 1977
through the work of Charles Marnham, but Nicky Gumbel popularised it
many years later. Nicky Gumbel, the author of the newly revised Alpha
course, read law at Cambridge, and theology at Oxford. He is now an
ordained minister, and on the staff of Holy Trinity, a notorious
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